The story of a Reading FC footballer who became a prisoner of war is told in a new biography.

Gemma Davidson finds out about the incredible life of Johnny Sherwood

Travelling the world as an up-and-coming footballer, working on the notorious ‘railway of death’ in Burma and witnessing the atomic bombing of Nagasaki may sound like the plot of a fantastic summer blockbuster.

But these were just three of the historic events former Reading FC footballer and soldier Henry ‘Johnny’ Sherwood could count among his memories, which have now been put down on paper and published in the memoir-style biography, Lucky Johnny.

Johnny’s grandson Michael Doe, 46, who lives on the Wirral, fondly remembers his grandfather’s stories about the war from his childhood.

He said: “He would tell us bedtime stories about being in Burma and Japan and travelling the world, but at that age I just thought of them as stories.

“He would tell us all about his time as an up-and-coming footballer before being called up, and I was proud to take him down to the park to introduce him to my friends.

“He talked about the war but wouldn’t go into the detail as we were quite young, but I know he’d had nightmares after he came home.”

The book documents Johnny’s journey as a young boy, one of 11 children, living above the May Duke pub in Great Knollys Street, which his parents ran for more than 40 years.

In his teens he was spotted by Reading Football Club and began his professional football career and, as Michael explains, had the world at his feet.

Reading FC, 1937-38. Johnny Sherwood is front row, third from left (Image: Picture: Reading Football Club Ltd)

Michael continued: “He was a fantastic footballer, he played 71 games and scored 72 goals, that’s how good he was.

“He toured all over the world with the club, playing tournaments in Europe, Asia and South America with the all-star British team, his stories from this time were fantastic.

“He had the world at his feet, but when he was called up his dream was cut short.”

Johnny left his home town, his pregnant wife Christine, and young son Philip to fight for his country with five of his brothers. In 1941 his regiment was posted to the Middle East, but after the bombing of Pearl Harbour on the Hawaiian island of Oahu by the Japanese, he was diverted to Singapore.

The troops found themselves under attack and after a terrifying bombardment by the Japanese the British commander controversially surrendered, going against Churchill’s orders to fight to the last man.

Johnny and his fellow soldiers found themselves interred into the notorious Changi prison in eastern Singapore, and suffered appalling conditions at the hands of their Japanese captors.

Incredibly, Johnny recognised one of the prison guards as a footballer he played against in Yokohama in 1938.

Michael explained: “He didn’t know what to do, he saw these guards beating the inmates so terribly and was scared to say anything.

“He wasn’t sure if it would do him any good or make the guard turn against him, so he kept quiet. I think he was so shocked to see this footballer doing such appalling things.”

Johnny tried to keep the spirits of his inmates up by creating a football pitch in the prison and organising matches, but the men were often so exhausted and malnourished that it became impossible to play.

Those who could walk were eventually shipped to the River Kwai to build the notorious ‘railway of death’.

Johnny and his fellow soldiers toiled in the Asian heat in filthy conditions for several years until the work was complete.

In September 1944, Johnny and 900 other POWs, many of them sick and suffering from dysentery, were crammed into the holds of a Japanese freight ship. Unaware of the human cargo on board, the ship was torpedoed by a US submarine.

The cover of Lucky Johnny

Johnny leapt from the sinking vessel into the sea, but around 800 POWs drowned in the disaster. He survived with six other men by clinging onto a piece of driftwood.

Michael said: “It just seemed like it was one thing after another for him, when he survived the ship disaster, he probably hoped he was going picked up by the Americans and that would be the end of it, but as fate would have it, it was the Japanese who picked him up and took him back to Nagasaki.”

The men arrived in Japan on September 20, 1944, where they were again imprisoned and put to work. Johnny witnessed first hand the heavy bombardment by American troops and eventually the dropping of the atomic bomb which resulted in the Japanese surrender. The troops were liberated and sent to America to recuperate from their ordeal before being sent home.

Johnny arrived in Southampton in November 1945, greeted by Christine, five-year-old Philip and four-year-old Sandra, the daughter he had never met.

He returned to Reading, where he attempted to restart his career as a professional footballer, but after suffering such poor conditions and malnutrition in the camps his health never fully returned. He was given a place on the team at Reading FC, but he never made it through the full 90 minutes.

He went on to play for Aldershot and then Crystal Palace, before returning to Reading to help his mother run the family pub.

He started writing down his memories of his time in Asia, and produced a manuscript which he hoped one day to be published, but when he died in 1985, aged 72, the manuscript was lost.

Michael said: “It wasn’t until 2013 when I was clearing through my mother’s attic that I found this manuscript and all my grandfather’s diaries. I knew straight away that it needed to be published.

“It gave a great insight into his character.

“It’s a fantastic story, and would make a brilliant film I’m sure. My grandfather was a hero and I want people to know his story. It’s a lucky coincidence that the book is coming out just before the World Cup and the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings, and I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I do.”

Lucky Johnny: The Footballer who survived the River Kwai Death Camps is released on June 5, published by Hodder & Stoughton, priced £20.